HMAS Stalwart opened its doors to its ceremonial home of Geraldton over the weekend

Geraldton’s port was home to the HMAS Stalwart over the weekend, as the ship docked to give locals full tours of the navy life. Arriving on Friday, the replenishment ship opened up for tours running all of Saturday, giving visitors access to the ship and everything that happens inside. This does not mark a first visit for the ship, as it has visited Geraldton in the past, being called the ceremonial home by the ship’s commanding officer, Mile Madarac. “We stopped here at Geraldton as our ceremonial home port, we see our links with the Geraldton community quite strong,” he said. “We actually have a number of members of the ship’s company who are from the Geraldton community originally.” The ship has strong ties to Geraldton, which commanding officer Madarac calls important as its identity. “Geraldton as a ceremonial homeport is fundamental to us and our identity as a ship,” he said. “The engagement we have with people is genuinely important, the warmth, the generosity of the community, the engagement that we have had has been just positive. “We have close connections with not only the Geraldton community but with charity and organisations within the Mid West.” Members who took part in the tour would be guided by a path with designated soldiers at every stop to tell people where to go next and give any information about the area. With navigators explaining the sonar or soldiers detailing that the flags are aligned to mourn the Queen’s death, members of the public were able to ask away about the ship’s intricate details. The HMAS Stalwart was commissioned in November 2021 as a replenishment vessel, providing logistic support to Australia and allied units whilst at sea. The 174m ship helps provide food, fuel and water to the allied partners, as well as having the ability to carry over 8000 tonnes of fuel. “The Stalwart has taken part and engaged in work for allied partners, including undertaking operations with the Philippine Navy and the US Navy whilst deployed last year,” commanding officer Madarac said. “It is fitted with a number of mission systems to both defend and support our mission, the number one weapon system is our replenishment system.” With the ship’s massive size, ship commander Madarac said it was economical on fuel. “It’s surprisingly economical for the size of this ship… we are fitted with diesel engines which are quite spot-on for fuel and so they are pretty good horsepower. “It’s an amazing capability, it is one of our newest capabilities for Australia.” With access to all the different facilities including the control room, navigation and the ship’s gym, many visitors were impressed by the ship’s sheer size and capability. “It is a lot bigger and a lot more complicated and the crew is fantastic, really good to talk to and they seem to know what they are doing,” ship tourist Mark Goodchild said. “The fact that it’s open to the public and basically, other than key areas, you can go and look at, and ask any question you like, they’ve been extremely generous with their information,” ship visitor Kevin White said.